Estimated study time: 10 minutes
Task [5 minutes]
Reflection
You will now revisit your original definition of digital literacy and evaluate it in light of the discussion in Sections 1 to 4 of this course. Follow these steps:
- Look at your notes from Section 2 Task 1, where you expressed your understanding of the concept of digital literacy. Which areas of the discussion did it include? Which areas did it leave out?
- Has your understanding of digital literacy changed, as a result of this course? If so, how?
- When discussing the term digital literacy, what will you be more mindful of in the future?
- What ideas or examples of critical digital literacy in practice can you think of from your own experience, or from something you’ve observed?
In conclusion
As individuals, by our actions, we contribute daily to the re-making and re-shaping of the social order. And the more we are aware, the more we can make a difference, maybe only in small ways, to our own situation and to that of our society. (Martin and Madigan, 2006, p. xxvii)
This course aims to demonstrate the need for educators to recognise that digital literacies are critical, rather than purely functional in nature (Ryberg and Georgsen, 2010). Applying critical digital literacy could empower students and educators in various ways e.g. once suitably informed, students may choose to opt out of personalised learning. Instructional strategies that promote media literacy may build ‘young people’s meta cognitive skills in reflecting on their own behaviour that results from the media choices in the online environment’ (Hobbs, 2006, p.105).
At the institutional level, critical digital literacy could make educators more mindful when using educational technology to predict student potential (Slade and Prinsloo, 2013, p.1522-1523). Greater awareness may lead educators to champion ‘trust, reciprocity and academic freedom on campus’ (Bayne et al., 2019, p.104). An example of this is the University of Edinburgh’s ‘Near Futures Teaching’ vision statement (2019, p.19) which aims to 'Use technology to build relationships between students and staff based on trust, resisting logistics of surveillance and unnecessary monitoring.'
Finally, this ‘opening up’ of the concept of digital literacy cannot easily be achieved without the support of all stakeholders. Gibson (2007) identifies how American parents remain enthralled by the computational metaphor for the brain, which has led to ‘some questionable ideas about teaching’ despite many in academia encouraging a wider perspective to literacy. Therefore, to truly help students move from ‘learning to code’ to ‘learning to critique’, educators will need buy-in from parents, principals, curriculum designers and policy makers, who will all need to understand the value of critical digital literacy.
At the institutional level, critical digital literacy could make educators more mindful when using educational technology to predict student potential (Slade and Prinsloo, 2013, p.1522-1523). Greater awareness may lead educators to champion ‘trust, reciprocity and academic freedom on campus’ (Bayne et al., 2019, p.104). An example of this is the University of Edinburgh’s ‘Near Futures Teaching’ vision statement (2019, p.19) which aims to 'Use technology to build relationships between students and staff based on trust, resisting logistics of surveillance and unnecessary monitoring.'
Finally, this ‘opening up’ of the concept of digital literacy cannot easily be achieved without the support of all stakeholders. Gibson (2007) identifies how American parents remain enthralled by the computational metaphor for the brain, which has led to ‘some questionable ideas about teaching’ despite many in academia encouraging a wider perspective to literacy. Therefore, to truly help students move from ‘learning to code’ to ‘learning to critique’, educators will need buy-in from parents, principals, curriculum designers and policy makers, who will all need to understand the value of critical digital literacy.
Thank you
Thank you for taking the time to complete the course. If you enjoyed the contents and felt they were useful, please feel free to share the link to the course with any colleagues or friends you feel will benefit from it.
You can also share the link to the course on social media, using the hashtag #diglitforedu . Link to the course using: https://digitalfutures.weebly.com
You can also share the link to the course on social media, using the hashtag #diglitforedu . Link to the course using: https://digitalfutures.weebly.com
Give feedback on the course
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Additional reading (optional)
1. Martin, A., 2006. A European framework for digital literacy, Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy 02 / 2006 (Volume 1). Available through
https://www.idunn.no/dk/2006/02/a_european_framework_for_digital_literacy?languag
2. Søvik, M.B. 2014. Practices of ambiguity: becoming “information literate” in two Norwegian schools. Journal of Information Literacy, 8(2), pp. 101-117. . Available through http://dx.doi.org/10.11645/8.2.1938
3. Ireton, C., and Posetti, J., Eds. Journalism, ‘Fake News’ & Disinformation: Handbook for Journalism Education and Training, UNESCO. Available through
https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/journalism_fake_news_disinformation_print_friendly_0.pdf
4. UOE. 2019. Near Future Teaching: Codesigning a values-based vision for digital education at the University of Edinburgh. Available through https://www.nearfutureteaching.ed.ac.uk/
https://www.idunn.no/dk/2006/02/a_european_framework_for_digital_literacy?languag
2. Søvik, M.B. 2014. Practices of ambiguity: becoming “information literate” in two Norwegian schools. Journal of Information Literacy, 8(2), pp. 101-117. . Available through http://dx.doi.org/10.11645/8.2.1938
3. Ireton, C., and Posetti, J., Eds. Journalism, ‘Fake News’ & Disinformation: Handbook for Journalism Education and Training, UNESCO. Available through
https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/journalism_fake_news_disinformation_print_friendly_0.pdf
4. UOE. 2019. Near Future Teaching: Codesigning a values-based vision for digital education at the University of Edinburgh. Available through https://www.nearfutureteaching.ed.ac.uk/
Digital literacy for digital futures: Key implications for educators by Neenaz Ichaporia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.